Shadow Dance
Shades 1
Robert Hood

A Hodder Book 2000

168p pbk $14.95

0-7336-1296-2

Shadow Dance, the first book in this series, is the story of Nathan, a boy who mysteriously disappeared six months ago. Now he's back, but he can't remember who he is, or what has happened to him, light hurts him, and he can hop from one shadow to another. All that he does know is that something is out to get him, something dark, and that it will kidnap his parents and threaten to kill others too get what it wants...

Shadow Dance has a bit of everything: humour, action, horror, and romance. Because of the mystery, and the missing details in the main character, Nathan's, life the book makes you want to know the full story and want to know what is going to happen next. It keeps you interested the whole way through, while not being an "impossible to put down" book.

At first, the book seems to jump from one topic to the other, and the language is a tad simple, but this improves as you progress further into the book.

Although it is classified as a horror story, it's not particularly scary, but still makes a good read. It is a book in a series, but it has a satisfactory ending on its own, plus a preview of the next book!I think that Shadow Dance is a good read, with a plot that is slightly typical but never the less has some new twists of its own, and a book that is enjoyable  for teenagers no matter what genre they are into.

Caitlin, aged 14, Canberra

 Shades #1: Shadow Dance is very appealing to its intended audience. (ages 12-13) Hood has written exactly what a sixteen year old boy would say, do and think. Hood has described the scenery as though you feel like you are actually Nathan throughout the entire book and can feel the fear and pain, see the shadows and hear the voices of the characters. Shades has one definite topic, and that is horror, horror which is very realistic and keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way through the entire book.

The story is about a sixteen year old boy who almost died, but was saved by the shadows and turned into a shade. Shades are like ghosts in the sun, but are perfectly normal in the dark, except for two things, one is they can never die or get harmed permanently and two, they can shadow hop, a type of teleporting.

This book is so interesting I couldn't put it down for ages and I would suggest it to anyone who is ready to read for hours on end. I would like to receive this book as a gift, or even buy it with my own money, and I would keep it for my children.

Reviewer : Matt, 12, Sydney

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I didn't really enjoy this book at all because it took a long time to get into any action. There was a lot of detail which I found quite boring to read through and then I couldn't work out why this detail had been so critical to the plot. 

I would not spend my money to buy this book and I would only recommend it to other readers who like novels which take a while to get into. Perhaps some people might be interested more in the setting than the adventure in which case they would probably enjoy this novel.
Marvin  11 yrs rural Victoria

The start of the novel is quite confusing because it doesn't define the setting very clearly.

I think the novel would have benefited from some illustration.
I would recommend it for children from 10 - 13yrs.

Doyle  12 yrs rural Victoria

It didn't have a good ending and I generally found it too complicated. There were too many things to remember all the time. The writing is a good size to read and there are some complicated words.

I wouldn't buy this book for myself but I think there would be some people who would like the detailed way this book is written.

Bryn, 12, rural Victoria

Shadow Dance is the first in a four-part series. The next books being in order Night Beast, Ancient Light and Black Sun Rising.  It is better if these books are also read in order for the reader to learn more about the strange and mysterious Shadow World which is the landscape where Nathan the main character finds himself.  The Shadow World is a complicated state of existence beyond normal boundaries of time and place with its own rules and creatures that inhabit it.  Nathan finds he has turned into a shade-a-ghost like being who looks real as long as he avoids light, like a vampire.  He discovers his parents are prisoners of the mysterious and all-powerful Tenebran and that he is also in danger of a similar fate. 

Shadow Dance is part mystery, part fantasy, part thriller, part horror and a great read in all those categories.  Suitable for ages 11 to 111.